Update, Day Three: Electricity, Nuclear Plant Stabilized

UPDATE
At a press conference moments ago, Prime Minister Naoto Kan told Japanese citizens and companies to conserve electricity. He said the government approved measures for the Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO, to implement its “scheduled plans” to shut off electricity in certain areas. There will be scheduled power outages in Japan tomorrow for up to three hours from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Kan noted this was the worst crisis since WW II.

He appealed for people to stay calm. “Please cooperate with the government’s decisions and help each other at this critical moment. I believe the Japanese people will overcome this crisis,” he said.

UPDATE
Naoto Takeuchi, chief of Miyagi Prefecture Police Department moments ago said, “In Miyagi prefecture, the death total will be more than 10,000 for sure. We have more than 300 unidentified bodies.”

UPDATE
At the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, it was announce moments ago by Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, that at 2:22 p.m there were increased levels of radiation spreading in the air. Officials believe that hydrogen is accumulating in the building, which is causing the problem. Furthermore, there is now a possibility of another explosion. Edano said, “it won’t break the chamber.” He appealed for calm.

In Miyagi prefecture, the Onagawa nuclear power plant, which has 3 nuclear reactors, is having problems. Nuclear officials found high levels of radiation spreading in the air. They are investigating the cause. However, the temperatures of the reactors are rising.

UPDATE THREE
A man that was swept away by the first tsunami was miraculously found 15 km from shore by the Japanese Maritime patrol boat. Hiromitsu Shinkawa ,63, was drifting in the ocean after being pulled away by the tsunami.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO, will limit the supply of electricity to the Tohoku and Kantou regions by tomorrow because of the power plants (2 nuclear and 5 thermal power generation plants) were shut down. The plants normally provide about 41 million kilo watts of power during the day, but it is estimated they can currently only provide 31 million kilo watts.

UPDATE TWO
According to Takashi Yokota, of Japan’s Meteorological Department, there is a probability of 70 percent that another earthquake will hit Honshu’s East Coast, 500 km length and 200 km width, within the next three days. It will measure about 7 on the Richter scale.

UPDATE ONE
The Fukushima No.1 nuclear plant released higher than normal levels of radiation at 9:01 a.m. today and the government issued a new warning. However, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, a few moments ago, said the levels of exposure is not hazardous to one’s health. Prime Minister Naoto Kan appealed for people to remain calm. The government is offering free checkups for the people who were evacuated.

In Miyagi Prefecture

More than 10,000 people are still missing

390,000 have been evacuated

2,100 were isolated or stranded

Banks are open today. However, many customers don’t have their bank cards (tsuuchou cards). If they can verify their identities they can receive up to 100,000 yen.

In Higashi Matsushima City

A tanker was stranded on the ground and many ships capsized and Matsushima Airport was submerged

The tsunami warning is still in affect along the cost from Kantou to Touhoku

The official name for the earthquake is “Touhoku-Kanto Dai-Shinnsa” or, “The Touhoku-Kanto Great Earthquake.”

The government will increase its self-defense soldiers from 50,000 to 100,000

Iwate Prefecture

The death total was estimated to be more than 500. However, there are not many communication lines working, so it maybe more.

Other News

Dogs and aid from Korea have arrived and heading toward the earthquake areas.

The US Navy 7th fleet carrier has arrived with air support.

About 40 dogs and aid has left Germany for Japan.

England and France are currently preparing to send aid to Japan.

The Russian government will export natural gas and energy.

All the major highways bound north are still closed, except for emergency vehicles.

This entry was posted on 03/13/2011 at 11:40 am and is filed under NEWS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

One Response to Update, Day Three: Electricity, Nuclear Plant Stabilized

Casper on 03/13/2011 at 4:07 pm

Glad to have your website to keep me updated on what is going on with the nuclear reactors. Seems like they are not bilingual broadcasting on Channel 1 anymore on T.V. Pretty unsettling not getting any updates in English!

Hard to believe that Japan only has 1 channel broadcasting in different languages. Pretty irritating not having a current update, they say the same thing in English, Chinese, Korean, etc. over and over again.

Why can’t one channel bilingual broadcast in English, another channel bilingual broadcast in Chinese, another channel bilingual broadcast in Korean, and so on and so on…during emergencies?! It was pretty ridiculous waiting for them to broadcast in your language. Channels 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 had NO BILINGUAL BROADCASTING AT ALL!